Action toy



H. G. FISHER May 5, 1942.

ACTION TOY Filed June 19, 1940 INYENTOR Hermggz GFlShQX', am, MMv

ATTORNEYS UNITED STATES PATEN T OFFICE ACTION TOY Herman G. vFisher,East Aurora, .N. 1., assignor to Fisher-.Brice Toys, Inc., East Aurora,TY.

Application June 19, 1940, SerialNo. 341,335

10 Claims.

This invention relates to action toys and' has for one of its objects toprovide an improved toy of such form that the operating elements thereofare of improved form andare adapted to be made and assembled in accordwith simplified manufacturing processes. Other objects and advantages ofthe inventionwill appear in the specification herein.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is an elevation of a toy of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view of the toy of Fig. l

ig. 3 is a perspective, on an-enlarged scale, of a portion of theactuating mechanism of the toy; and

Fig. 4 is a plan of a detail of the actuating mechanism at anintermediate stage of manufacture thereof.

The toy comprises generally a body In which maybe so shaped externallyas to-simulate the outlines of an animal or other toy figure, and may beconveniently formed of wood or any other suitable material. The bodymember Ii] is intermediately grooved as at 12 and M at its front andbottom side edges, respectively, to accommodate the actuating elementsof the toy in substantially concealed relation therein, as will be morefully explained hereinafter.

The body member ID is supported for rolling movement across a floor orthe like by means of front and rear pairs of traction wheels l5 and 18,respectively; the pairs of wheels being supported relative to the bodyby means of front and rear axles 20 and 22, respectively. Spacer membersll of sleeve form are mounted upon the axles between the traction wheelsand the body member It. The front axle 20 is rotatably mounted in thebody member ID and is keyed to the wheels I6. For this purpose the shaft20 may be conveniently formed of square section so as to provide thekeyed connection between the shaft and the wheels.

A cam device 26 is mounted upon the squared axle 20 at its centralportion so as to be disposed within the slotted portion of "the bodymember and is adapted to rotate'withthe axle 20 to actuate the movingmembers of the action toy in response to rolling movement of the'toy, aswhen pulled by a pull-cord 28. The cam device 26 is formed of sheetmetal and first cut into the form as illustrated in Fig, 4 so as toprovide a sheet metal body having a reduced center section 30,oppositely extending end finger portions 32,and intermediate bodyportions 34 in which are formed square openings 36 for fitting upon theaxle 29. The cam device 26 is then folded at its center section into thefinal U-shaped form as illustrated in'Fig. 3 whereby the openings 36 arebrought into registering alignment so that the cam is adapted to besimply slid onto the axle 20 to its operative position at the centersection thereon.

Thus, the cam26 is freefloating upon the axle 20 and will adjust itselfto differences in relative arrangements of adjacent parts of the toy, asmay be due to inaccuracies in manufacture and as sembly thereof or thelike; and when the cam 26 is mounted upon theaxle it is maintained inproper lateral position thereon by the guidingaction of'the oppositewall portions of the body It! of the slotted portion thereof.

As illustrated in Fig. 1, the cam device at is operatively associatedwith .amovable lip member 40, which is pivotally mounted upon the toy.body asat '42, by means of a pitman 44 pivotally connected with the lipmember by means of an i-nturned finger 46, as at 48. The lower end ofthe pitman is rotatably mounted eccentrically of the'axle 20 by means ofengagement of the axle andcam combination by the lower end 50 of thepitman which is of circular form and looped about the axle 20 andthecentral portion 30 of the cam device. Thus, as the axle 20 rotates .thelower end of the pitman is caused to move through an orbit having itscenter at the axis of theshaft 2-0; the extending finger portions 32 ofthe cam device being sufiiciently spaced apart to clear-the shaft of thepitman 44 during such movement. Consequently, the pitman 4D is givenoscillative movements about the pivotal connection 42; and it will beunderstood that the element .40 maybe any element of a'toy that is to beoscillated to simulate life like movements.

It will beappreciated that to assemble the cam 23.6 in conjunction withthe shaft 20 and the loop 50 of the .pitman 44 the loopifl willnecessarily be first mounted upon the cam in proper position thereon andthe shaft 20 will then bethreaded through the opposing wall portions ofthe cam.memb,er and within the loop 50 to the position illustrated in.Fig. 3. The unit is then in self-locking assembled relation, and it isimpossible for the side wall portions of the cammember to move relativeto one another to any substantial degree because of their being lookedupon the shaft 20. However, the unit may be-purposefully disassembledwith complete facility by simply sliding the shaft 29 through the cammember and out of engagement therewith.

The side wallportions of .the cam member are provided with projectingportions 3| which abut the adjacent portions of the loop 50 to preventthe latter from moving laterally with respect to the bearing portion 30of the cam member. Thus, the projecting portions 3| function as guidemeans to maintain the loop 50 at all times in operative engagement withthe bearing portion 30 of the cam member.

A sound producing device is mounted adjacent the lower portion of thebody and comprises essentially a sounding board 52 of cardboard or thelike and a spring striker 54 for intermittent striking of the soundingboard to produce sound vibrations. The sounding board 52 is arranged tospan the slot at the lower portion of the body to and is convenientlymounted in rigid relation upon the opposite extending body portionsthereof by means of staples 56 driven through the sounding board andinto the material of the body I0. The striker 54 is of spring type andis mounted at one of its ends as by being coiled about the axle 22. Anintermediate portion of the spring is bent to provide a protuberance asat 58 for bearing against the sounding board 52. An abutment bar 60bears against an upper part of the spring 54 to normally maintain theprotruding portion 58 in bearing relation against the sounding board.The free end 62 of the striker is arranged to be actuated by the fingers32 of the cam in such manner as to be periodically lifted by the cam andsubsequently released for return to normal position. During the strikerlifting operation the portion 58 of the striker is withdrawn from thesounding board but returns thereto upon release by the cam, whereby thestriker vibrates against the sounding board and produces an animalsimulating noise.

The camming fingers 32 being spaced apart are adapted to compensate forinaccuracies in connection with the manufacture or assembly of otherportions of the toy. For example, in the toy of the drawing, the fingers32 will be so spaced as to span a dimension slightly less than the widthof the member actuated thereby, and consequently even though the movablemember may not be accurately located in the body of the toy either oneor both of the finger members 32 will come into contact with the movablemember upon actuation of the toy, and the effective operation will befully as complete as though the toy parts were accurately manufacturedand aligned in accord with the plan thereof.

Also, the extending finger portions 32 of the cam may be disposedradially at any desired angular relationship with respect to thedirection of the offset extension of the eccentric portion of thedevice. Consequently, although the drawing illustrates the fingerportions 32 as extending in substantially diametrically opposed relationwith respect to the eccentric portion of the device, the finger portions32 may with equal facility be inclined upwardly or downwardly at anyother desired angular relationship with respect to the shaft 20. Thus,any desired time relation between effects of operation of the eccentricand cam portions of the devicemay be obtained. The eccentric portion ofthe device is a complete and novel structure in itself and may be usedwith great facility in connection with various forms of action toys,either independently of or in combination with the camming portionpreviously described and illustrated in the drawing. I

Thus, it is understood that through use of an improved and simplifiedorganization of act-uating parts a toy of improved form is provided. Theoperative parts of the device are susceptible of manufacture by means ofmost simple manufacturing processes, and the assembly of the parts is ofsuch simplified nature that the toy of the invention may be economicallymanufactured in accord with large scale production and methods.

Although only one form of the invention has been shown and described indetail, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that theinvention is not so limited but that various changes may be made thereinwithout departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of theappended claims.

I claim:

1. An action toy including a body member bifurcated at a lower edgeportion thereof intermediately of its outer side wall portions to formspaced depending outer wall portions, rotating shaft means extendingthrough the bifurcated portion of said body member, cam means mountedupon said shaft means within the interior of said bifurcated bodyportion, a sounding board mounted across said depending wall portions ofsaid body member and spanning said bifurcated body portion, soundproducing means operatively associated with said sounding board and saidcam means for actuation by the latter to produce sound effects incooperation with said sounding board, said sound producing means beingdisposed within the interior of said bifurcated body portion andsubstantially concealed from outer view.

2. An action toy including a body member bifurcated at a lower edgeportion thereof intermediately of its outer side wall portion to formspaced depending wall portions, rotating shaft means extending throughthe bifurcated portion of said body member, cam means mounted upon saidshaft means within the interior of said hifurcated body portion, asounding board mounted across said depending wall portions of said bodymember and spanning said bifurcated body portion, sound producing meansoperatively associated with said sounding board and said cam means foractuation by the latter to produce sound effects in cooperation withsaid sounding board, said sound producing means being disposed withinthe interior of said bifurcated body portion and substantially concealedfrom outer view, said sound producing means being in the form of a leafspring rigidly mounted at one of its ends upon said body and having itsother end disposed within the path of movement of said cam device andadapted to impinge at an intermediate portion thereof against saidsounding board.

3. An action toy including an upright body member mounted, upon frontand rear traction wheels for rolling movement across a supportingsurface, said body member being bifurcated to provide a recess thereinat its bottom edge, said traction wheels being mounted upon front andrear axles respectively extending through said recess, cam means mountedupon one of said axles and disposed substantially Within said re-- cess,a sounding board mounted upon said body member and spanning said recessat a position between said front and rear traction wheels, a resilientstriker disposed within said recess and looped about said rear axle atone of its ends and bearing against an abutment portion of said bodymember at a position spaced from said rear axle so as to be mounted incantilever fashion,

the free end of said striker being disposed within the orbit of said camdevice, said striker being arranged to intermittently contact with saidsounding board at a position intermediate of said cantilever mountingand said free end for production of sound effects in response toactuation of said striker upon rotation of said front traction wheels.

4. In an action toy, a combination eccentric bearing and cam device formounting upon a rotating axle adapted to impart oscillative movements toa plurality of movable members in response to rotation of said axle,comprising a U- shaped body member having parallel spaced side portionstransfixed by said axle and keyed thereto, said side portions beingjoined by a closed end portion at a position spaced from said axle thusproviding in cooperation with said axle a pair of spaced parallelmembers, a ring member mounted upon said spaced members for rotationthereon about a center offset from the axis of said axle and forrevolution about said axis of said axle upon rotation of the latter foractuation of movable elements of said toy, said side members havingparallel spaced finger portions extending oppositely from said closedbody portion for intermittent cam-like engagement with other movableelements disposed within the orbit of movement of said finger membersupon rotation of said axle.

5. In an action toy a movement translating device keyed to a rotatingaxle, said device comprising an element cut from sheet metal into theform of a symmetrical elongate body having a reduced center portion atthe plane of symmetry thereof and reduced extending end portions, thebody portions intermediate of said reduced center and end portions beingapertured, said body member having been subsequently bent at said centerportion into U shaped form with said intermediate body and fingerportions disposed in parallel spaced relation, said device being mountedupon said axle by threading of said axle through said apertured bodyportions.

6. In an action toy, a body member, an element movably mounted upon saidbody member, a shaft rotatably mounted upon said body member, a U shapeddevice having a closed end portion and parallel spaced side portionsfixed to said shaft in such manner that said closed end portion isdisposed parallel to and spaced from said shaft, said closed end portionand said shaft in the region between said side portions being adapted toprovide spaced bearing devices for mounting of a ring-like movementtransmitting member thereon, said side portions being extended to guidesaid ring-like member and to maintain the latter in operative positionupon said bearing devices.

7. In an action toy, an eccentric bearing device for mounting upon arotating axle adapted to impart oscillative movements to a plurality ofmovable members in response to rotation of said axle comprising aU-shaped body member having parallel spaced side portions transfixed bysaid axle and keyed thereon, said side portions being joined by a closedend portion at a position spaced from said axle thus providing incooperation with said axle a pair of spaced parallel members, a ringmember mounted upon said spaced members for rotation thereon about acenter offset from the axis of said axle and for revolution about saidaxis of said axle upon rotation of the latter for actuation of movableelements of said toy.

8. In an action toy, a movement translating device keyed to a rotatingaxle thereof, said device comprising an element cut from sheet metalinto the form of a symmetrical elongate body having a reduced centerportion at the plane of symmetry thereof, said body being aperturedsymmetrically of said plane of symmetry and subsequently bent at saidcenter portion into U-shaped form with opposite .body portions disposedsubstantially in parallel spaced relation for mounting upon a drivingaxle by means of threading the latter through the apertured portions ofsaid body.

9. In an action toy, a movement translating device keyed to a rotatingaxle thereof, said device comprising an element cut from sheet metalinto the form of a symmetrical elongate body having a reduced centerportion at the plane of symmetry thereof, said body being aperturedsymmetrically of said plane of symmetry and subsequently bent at saidcenter portion into U-shaped form with opposite body portions disposedsubstantially in parallel spaced relation for mounting upon a drivingaxle by means of threading the latter through the apertured portions ofsaid body, said reduced center portion being thus disposed in spacedparallel relation with respect to the line of said axle and adapted toprovide in cooperation therewith spaced bearing members for mountingthereon of a circular bearing member, said opposed parallel bodyportions being provided with portions adapted to extend into bearingrelation with respect to said bearing member for preventing lateraldisplacement thereof from said reduced center section.

10. In an action toy, a body bifurcated to provide an intermediate slotto accommodate toy actuating means in concealed relation within saidbody, a pair of traction Wheels disposed at opposite sides of said bodyand mounted upon a squared axle, said squared axle being rotatablymounted upon said body and having its central portion disposed withinsaid slot, a sounding board mounted upon said body at a marginal edgeportion thereof in such manner as to span said slot, a cantilever springdevice disposed within said slot and mounted at one of its ends uponsaid body and having its free end adjacent said axle, and cam meansoperatively associated with said axle adapted to successively deflectsaid spring from normal position and then to release it for soundproducing movement against said sounding board upon rotation of saidtraction wheels.

HERMAN G. FISHER.

